Cassandra's Prophecy
by amazonsummons
Summary: Semi - Mary Sue!!! You have been warned!!!! I want her to be less sterotypical, so read/reveiw!! This is a basic retelling of X2, Nightcrawler/OC
1. Default Chapter

I do not own the X-men or the universe in which they live. I only claim creation of Cassandra aka Tigeress. All rights are property of Stan Lee and Marvel. Some people may call this a "Mary Sue", I however think that it does not meet everything to be a Mary Sue. Cassandra is not perfect, she has issues, she isn't the most beautiful, thin nor does she have full control over her powers or life. I hope that some people will read my story and simply enjoy it for what it is. Thanks and please review:)  
  
She followed Jean, her boots hit the stairs in heavy thumps, when Jean stopped abruptly. Nearly running into the back of the older woman, but luckily she'd had her guard down and sensed a telepathic shock. Wolverine, she thought in dismay.  
  
"Hello, Logan," Jean said, her voice as light as silk. Cassandra rolled her eyes as she slipped past Jean, her focus on the elevator hidden covertly behind rich, wooden paneling. She caught a glimpse of Scott hanging back at the doorway.  
  
"Hey, Summers," his face never left Jean as Cassie brushed past him.  
  
"Yeah, hi Cassie," he said in such a robotic monotone voice that Cassie nearly snorted indignantly. She looked back as Logan embraced Jean, a gesture filled with a warmth and longing that made Cassie shudder involuntarily. She paused, closing her slitted eyes and sent Scott a mental kick in the ass of courage. As she walked into the open elevator she heard Scott tell Logan to fill the motor-cycle with gas himself and smiled.  
  
She rode the elevator to the underground training facility of the X-men. She placed her hand on a glass panel that scanned it and she waited for the metal door to open. As the red laser passed over her hand and made a clicking sound she braced herself for the voice that would follow.  
  
"Welcome, Cassandra," the flat, electronically enhanced voice of her late mother, Moria, filled her ears. As the doors slide soundlessly open she let go of the breath she had been holding.  
  
Cassie made her way through the labyrinth of halls into the large room containing the Blackbird, just underneath the basketball court. Ororo, who was running diagnostics on all the electrical and computer systems, waved to her from the cockpit. Cassandra, even though she had been begrudgedly elected for baby-sitting duty while everyone went off on missions, had still opted to help out with preparations. Walking over to a large cylindrical container she grabbed the gas hose and drug it over to the tanks to fill them.  
  
She felt a slight prickling sensation, as though needles had entered her eyes, as a lump filled her throat. She leaned her forehead against the cool metal of the plane just as her legs began to give out underneath her. Her entire face took on a vacant expression as she slid to the floor like a rag doll. Within seconds her vision was filled with flashes of yellow light.  
  
Flash  
  
An old cathedral loomed heavy above her. Ororo and Jean flanked her as they walked towards the dark building.  
  
Flash  
  
Inside the Blackbird they fall, a steep nose-dive that they can not pull out of. There is a hole in the roof of the plane and she watches helplessly as one of her students, Marie; Rogue is wrenched out by the reversal in pressure caused by the gapping rupture.  
  
Flash  
  
A man, his features hidden by the darkness that envelopes him, seemingly hovers above her sleeping form. His cloven hand stroking her pale cheek.  
  
Flash  
  
Another man, but only barely so, sits in a wheel chair with many tubes and wires protruding from his limp form. His eyes, a mismatch of blue and green, are the only signs of life.  
  
Flash  
  
She sees Jean, outside the Blackbird, a torrent of water about to wash over her. The plane lifts above the flooding torrent, by a will of its own and Jean is crushed beneath the waves.  
  
Flash  
  
She trembled; not from the cold of the cement floor, but from the exertion of her powers. Her breathe came in shallow, quick gasps. Her eyes held a resplendent fog to them, her vision not yet functional.  
  
"Cassandra?" she heard a female's voice and a soft hand encircle her shoulders.  
  
"Ororo?" she panted. Her face turned up towards the sounds of the older woman.  
  
"As well as the Professor," Storm stated, her accent thick with worry.  
  
"Cassandra, what happened? I felt your fear from my office," the voice of her father came urgently to her through the darkness. She took the hand that Ororo offered as they made their way to a metal work bench. Ororo helped her clamber up on to the high table. She stayed silent to his question; how could he possibly believe her, trying would only be a set back to her now. Yet she was even worried herself; these visions were coming in greater frequency and strength. But they were never hit her with such a vivid force. Usually there was one or two and she almost always had some kind of warning. That way she was able to set up a simple telepathic shield to block her father and Jean.  
  
"We should have Jean look at your eyes," Ororo stated. At the mention of the red-head Cassie stiffed. It was well known at the institute that Cassie held resentment towards the other telepath/telekinetic. She felt that her training had been pushed off to the side for Jeans' ever expanding powers.  
  
"Don't worry about it, they'll be back to normal in no time," she stammered out quickly.  
  
"Cassie, has this happened before?" Ororo asked her thin hands on Cassie's shoulders. She internally slapped herself on the forehead, She had revealed too much.  
  
"Y...Yes," she said simply. She went silent; her face was a placid lake and her face turned away from them so they wouldn't see her blossoming tears.  
  
"What happened?" She heard the cool voice of Jean Grey, she must have just come in, she thought. Cassie paused as she waited for the clicking of Jean's heels to come to a stop.  
  
"I...I see visions, sort of premonitions," she stuttered, suddenly, as though she couldn't contain herself any longer. Hell or high water she had to speak about this someday.  
  
"I've been having them since...since right before Mum died," she stopped speaking and waited for them to rebuke her; to deny that she could possibly see the future; the same way Apollo had. She rubbed her eyes, her dark make-up stayed oddly intact, as the world began to come into focus.  
  
"I do not want you to be alone tonight, I will ask Logan to watch the children," his voice was curt and brought back ideas of his military days. The professor started to say more but Cassie interrupted him.  
  
"I don't need Logan to help me, I am perfectly capable to take care of them myself. I am no danger to them," she argued. Her father held up a hand to silence her.  
  
"I wanted you to go with Jean and Storm to Boston in the first place. With Logan her to handle the children, I can put you to better use," He raised an eyebrow at her. She tried not to smile; this was like being treated like a real X-man. She nearly had forgotten the more horrific aspects of some of her visions. And no one had said anything negative about the visions, or suggested that she be put under watch like a child. She was going to be allowed to go on a mission.  
  
"We should go finish prepping, 'Ro," Jean stated, giving Cassie an almost sisterly hug before the two jogged off, disappearing into the Blackbird.  
  
"Cassandra," he began, wheeling his chair closer to her, "I'm not sure what to say here. I'm not angry with you. I simply do not understand why you would want to hide such a difficult and new power from us...from me". The last part stung a bit, their father/daughter relationship was less than pillar. Cassie felt this was due, if but in part, to her strong mistrust of the male species as a whole. She had also blamed Xavier, again in part, for the death of her mother. She thought that there must have been a way he could have saved her, that he could have known about Apollo's threat. Then there was her extreme jealousy of Jean, the apt pupil. Tears again welled up in her storm gray eyes as she tried to explain with a small croak in her throat.  
  
"I have told one other person," she whispered, the tears falling freer now.  
  
"Apollo," he said this more as a statement than anything else as he leaned forward, placing one hand on her knee.  
  
"Yes, he...he didn't believe me. He thought they were hallucinations and that I needed to see a doctor. Said if I ever told anyone else they'd lock me up and throw away the keys," her slight brogue showed its skin as her tears flowed down her cheeks, hitting the dark blue denim of her flared jeans.  
  
"Cassandra, you know that Apollo had problems even I could not have guessed. He was very disturbed. I only wished I could have stopped him before he hurt you, hurt us, the way he did," Xavier's two highest regrets circled around a handsome blonde mutant named Apollo. This young mutant had come to him with powers so out of control that he nearly killed himself on many occasions. He carried a power much like that of John, AKA Pyro. Only his exceeded beyond anything they could have imagined, he also carried the ability to create, as well as manipulate fire. But from years of abuse at the hands of his father, Apollo chose to punish the man who had worked so hard to train him to harness his raging powers. Apollo had made Cassandra love him and then forced the younger girl to watch while he raped and murdered her mother.  
  
"I know...it's just that I can't trust anyone, I won't," she said this so forcefully that Charles almost flinched away from her.  
  
"Have I ever doubted you gifts?" he paused, waiting for her to shake her head. "I know that I have been less than a good father for you. I can not change the past but I can work on the future. You are my daughter and even if it is hard for you to believe; I do care a great deal for you. We will work on this together, and I think that we will both be stronger for it," he stopped, let her process what he had said. She sniffed and slide off the table.  
  
"Logan is waiting for you," she swiftly changed the subject away from herself. She could smell Logan's cigar burning in the hall outside.  
  
"When you return we will discuss this matter further and more fully," he started to leave the room, "Oh, I have your test scores here," he held out a thick folder for her and a smile broadened over his face. "Look at it after you take off," he smiled, something reserved for a very few people.  
  
As Cassie turned and walked up the metal stairs into the Blackbird she felt tingling warmth envelop her, then slowly release. This was the mental equivalent to a hug; she had never felt one before. Tentatively she returned the sentiment, if a bit lighter. When she had taken a seat behind Ororo they started to lift off the ground and fly away from the mansion. As it disappeared from their radar Cassie opened the file that had her name printed on it.  
  
Within the folder she found pictures of herself in various stages of life. One photo in particular stood out to her. It portrayed a ginger haired woman, tired from labor, holding a newborn baby wrapped in pink. Next to her was a young Charles Xavier, wearing a military uniform, with full function of his legs. He seemed to only have eyes for the small wailing infant, for her. She continued through the files, mainly a detailed listing of her powers, training, schooling and test scores. At the end of the last paper she noticed an area highlighted in yellow.   
  
Status: X-man, 2nd Class, psychology teaching degree pending  
  
She gasped, for nearly two years she had pushed her body and powers to their limits. All in the hopes that she might pass the rigorous test put forth by her father to become an X-man. Although her age restricted her from being at the same level as Ororo, Jean and Scott. Logan was still taking his tests; he kept failing the section on directional processing and conducting skills. Jean unbelted and walked back to her, kneeling.  
  
"Go back and get your uniform on. It's in compartment 876,'' Cassie was so excited she could have hugged Jean, she was thankful she wasn't that out of her mind. She jumped up and, trying not to act too childish by running, walked back to were the uniforms, extra clothes and food were kept. Cassie pressed the button to compartment 876. It slid open like an automatic dresser drawer and was filled with black leather. She pulled out the pants, jacket, boots and a long overcoat.  
  
"He had them made a week before you took your exams, he knew you would pass," Jean spoke into her mind. "Hurry we'll be in Boston in a half hour."  
  
Unlike most airplanes the Blackbird was spacious and comfortable. The bathroom was no exception. Stripping down into underwear and a thin black tank top, Cassie slipped into the second skin of her uniform. Each member of the team, even Logan; who wasn't technically a even member, had specially designed uniforms to suit their needs and preferences. Ororo's had a cape that Cassie was sure she had chosen simply to look cool with her power over the wind and Logan's had special features for his claws.  
  
Cassie's uniform zipped up just to past the tops of her breasts, with a purple piping running through it. Her belt, with its' purple "X" buckle, hung lower on her hips than the other women's did. She held out her arms to get the full effect of the sleeves. They extended over her wrists and came to a point towards her middle finger were it looped like a ring over it. She realized that they covered her flame scarred and delicate skin on the backs of her hands. She was otherwise completely glove-less. The piping had been made to look like a corset that went around her torso and also ran down the sides of her legs. The boots were the same style she normally wore with a rounded military look to them. The large flare of the leather pants complemented her curvy figure. A jacket; heavily embroidered with tribal symbols that she recognized as identical to her tattoos, went past the knee and completed the outfit. Cassie took her long ginger and black stripped hair and braided it at the nap of her neck.  
  
As Cassie took her seat Ororo off-handedly said that they were minutes from a good place to land and that they would have to walk a bit of a distance from were the Professor had said the mutant they were tracking was located. 


	2. Chapter 2: Under the Demon's Gaze

Cassandra's Prophecy: Chapter 2, Under the Demon's Gaze  
  
The building had been built to last beyond the builders own children's lives. It loomed; heavy, gray brick against the early spring night. No one had noticed the three women sneak past the locked gates.  
  
Kurt woke to the sound of the front door of his haven being ripped open. He quickly teleported into the rafters of the main worship area. Below him, Nightcrawler saw three women and hoped that they would be an easy scare. He could hear their voices echoing off the high walls but could not make out what they were saying. The two older women walked tall and with confidence. The shortest woman hung back, surveying the area with more care. She crossed her chest swiftly before fully entering the church.  
  
"Hello?! We're not here to harm you," The dark-skinned woman called, holding her hands out in front of her sides.  
  
"Gehen Sie raus!" Kurt teleported across the room, shouting in his native tongue. He had used this trick a few other times on some vandals, the angry sounds of the German language had been enough to frighten them away.  
  
"He's a teleporter," Jean stated, relaying the obvious to them, "that must have been why he was so hard for the Professor to track."  
  
"He also appears to be German," Cassie said, looking up at the bamfing sounds coming from above them.  
  
"Don't you speak some..." Jean started to ask  
  
"Yes, I do," Cassie interrupted and stepped forward, a little more confident now, repeating all that Ororo had said before, in German.  
  
"Ich bin ein Bote des Teufels!" He continued raving and bounced around from parapet to parapet to confuse them. However they did not seemed frightened, and now the most smallest woman was speaking his language. "Ich bin die Augeburt des Bösen, ich bin ein dämon!!" he continued to scream.  
  
"Ororo, I think if we don't move now he could teleport out of here and we'll lose him again," Cassie looked at the others; Jean appeared to be positively indignant. Cassie worried only for a moment that she had overstepped her bounds by directing her suggestion straight to Storm instead of asking Jean, the leader, first.  
  
"Good, because I'm getting bored," Jean grinned at Ororo. Storm's eyes turned a milky white pallor as she spread her arms wide. Cassie heard the thunder crack and black clouds rolled in above Ororo.   
  
The lightning came in with the angry looking clouds and Cassie started as a bolt shot out and hit a parapet directly above her. They all stepped back at the sound of splintering wood and the terrified scream of the man who had been perched upon it. He fell, his body twisting like a cat to land on his hands and feet.  
  
"Cassie, hold his powers now!!" Jean held out her hands to use her telekinesis. At the same moment Cassie jutted out her own hand, freezing his teleporting abilities with her own meager powers. She could feel him at the back of her mind fighting desperately to escape.  
  
"Please, don't kill me," his voice had a heavy accent, but held an air of a person who was well educated. "I didn't mean to harm anyone,"  
  
"I wonder what would give anyone that idea," Cassie snorted indignantly. She looked him up and down. His blue skin was turning darker as the blood rushed to his head. His long tail had a spaded end and was thrashing wickedly in the air. She thought that his coloring could have easily blended into the shadows. Jean gently turned him right-side down, setting him on the ground.  
  
"Do you have him?" Ororo leaned into Cassie, her voice low.  
  
"He's not going anywhere, are you?" She asked him, her voice almost a growl from concentration, meeting his yellow eyes. He shook his head.  
  
"What is you name?" Jean asked in her most soothing voice.  
  
"Wagner, Kurt Wagner," he had the typical German accent, Wagner becoming Vagner. He had folded in slightly, this gave him the appearance that he was ready to take a blow from one of them.  
  
"So, Kurt, if you weren't going to hurt anyone, then what exactly was the attack on the White House all about," Cassie asked, Jean looking almost snippy at being usurped again. He was trembling and seemed so afraid of three women, when he had taken on the whole of the Secret Service in Washington. He ran his cloven hands through his softly curled and dirty hair; a sign to all of his nerves. Cassie started at his hands, remembering her vision. She would have to watch him carefully, at some point he may try to take liberties with her..  
  
"I don't remember, one moment I was here and the next I was fighting those armed guards. I could not control my actions, I tried to stop," he looked down at his bare feet, which were as oddly shaped as his hands.  
  
Kurt felt the stinging, pricking as tears welled up in his yellow eyes. He looked down away from the searing stares of the women.  
  
"We're here to help you, Kurt," the women with the short red hair said, she had an air of confidence about her that told Kurt she was in charge. He felt a hand on his injured shoulder and flinched as pain shot through his arm. 


	3. Chapter 3: Beyond Control

Chapter 3: Beyond Control  
  
Jean moved in to comfort Kurt as his frustration overwhelmed him, but he balked in pain. Cassie, whose telepathic powers were far more erratic than Jean's own; felt a wave of suffering from him in her own arm. This sudden burst of stinging caused her to lose her mental grip on his teleporting powers. He looked at her; he knew he could use his powers and looked ready to bolt.  
  
"Kurt," Cassie held out her hands, pleading, "please we just want to help you,".  
  
He cocked his head, a look of curiosity, in her direction. The way that she had used his name; as though he were about to jump from a tall building, caused him to pause. It was as though she cared for him, cared about what happened to him. That she wasn't her to judge him.  
  
"Eincerstanden," he agreed with a nod, gazing intently at her, almost in examination. Cassie stepped away from Storm, towards Kurt; being careful of his wound she placed a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Will you let Dr. Grey look at this?" She smiled at him  
  
"Doktor Grey?" his face lowered, embarrassed at directly addressing anyone. He found speaking to them as a whole was easier than talking to one specific individual. However he still looked her in the eyes through his thick black lashes.  
  
God, those should be outlawed, she thought as she directed him over to Jean, where she quickly backed away. Storm snickered at bit to herself as the heat gradient in Cassie's face became higher as her blushed from the blue mutants' gaze.  
  
Kurt lead them up a metal spiral staircase, he had chosen a choir loft as his living area. From the look of the place Cassie figured that he had been there for some time. He had converted an old alter into a functional, if uncomfortable looking bed. All around the bed, in places of honor were circus posters with depictions of him as the "Amazing Nightcrawler". Kurt walked over to his bed, leaning against it, awaiting their orders.  
  
At Dr. Grey's nod, Kurt began to take off his jacket, but was finding it very difficult and painful. The girl, who Dr. Grey had called Cassandra, stepped up beside him.  
  
"May I help you?" Her voice was barely above a whisper and sent chills that raised the small hairs down his spin on end.  
  
"Ya..please. I would apr…..appreciate that," he stammered. The sudden closeness of a woman made him very ill at ease. He felt like a beaten dog, wary yet still willing to befriend another person showing him kindness.  
  
Cassie slipped off his long trench coat, folding it, as he unzipped a thrashed looking leather vest. She came back around to his front and helped him with a worn sweater. She felt his tail graze her shins, even through her boots. He couldn't seem to keep it still, whether it was from nerves or not Cassie couldn't tell. She raised her eyebrows as the wound was revealed. The gunshot hadn't merely grazed him, as the papers had indicated, but had entered his shoulder and barely missed his clavicle.  
  
"As I suspected, very deep," Jean talked to herself, "Kurt, we will have to remove this right away. Will you lie down on your bed? I'm going to use my powers to take out the bullet, then Cassie you can close the wound, can't you?" Jean's voice was icy when she turn it towards Cassie and it hadn't slipped her attention. Cassie nodded and stepped away to give Jean some room.  
  
"I'm not overstepping my bounds am I?" Cassie whispered to Ororo.  
  
"No, love, Jean's a bit touchy lately. You're doing great, I am very proud. You seemed to gain a lot of confidence since we left the mansion," the taller woman smiled at her. Cassie nodded in agreement.  
  
"I think it's the uniform,"  
  
"I think that it's because our new friend trusts you, maybe because you are closer in age." Storm started to say more, but was interrupted by the frantic voice of Jean and a scream of pain from Kurt.  
  
"Cassandra, I need you. Now," Jean called urgently, all malice gone from her voice. Cassie turned from Ororo and hurried back to the makeshift bed. "He's tensing all his muscles around the bullet. If I try and extract it under these conditions I could do irreparable damage to his arm," Jean looked frustratedly down at Kurt's arm.  
  
"I'm sorry, it just hurts so very much," Kurt whimpered, fresh blood flowing down his bare, blue arm. Jean gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before giving it over to Cassie.   
  
"What do you want me to do," Cassie made eye contact with Jean.  
  
"Calm him, relax his muscles enough for me to take out the bullet, if you think that you can do it," the last was said obviously as a challenge. Jean knew that Cassie didn't have as much control of her powers as she did.  
  
"I'll do my best," she slipped her other hand over his own. He was shaking all over; a few tears from the torture had escaped from his eyes. Cassie smiled down at him, showing her set of elongated, canine teeth and she internally cursed herself for it.  
  
Kurt took slow, deep breathes as Dr. Grey gave Cassandra his ill formed hand. The burning from the bullet had subsided. Cassandra gave him a warm smile, showing that a few of her teeth matched his own. Abruptly, clouds entered her already gray eyes as she stopped smiling; her face was full of dejection and she looked away. He grasped her hand a bit tighter, trying to give her that same feeling of kinship she had just given him only moments ago.  
  
Cassie had always been ashamed of her feral, animal-like features. The cat eyes and double fangs were not her only shame. When provoked Cassie showed a fighting ability that almost rivaled Logan's carnal ferocity; earning her the nickname, Tigress. She even had a growl like a cougar that frightened many of the children at the Institute. But when Kurt returned her smile, revealing his own, fuller set of jaggedly sharp teeth; she relaxed her breathing and started to concentrate her work on him.  
  
Kurt felt as though a warm blanket had rolled over him as Cassandra closed her slitted eyes. She moved one of her hands onto his bare shoulder just next to his open wound; gradually he became no longer aware of any pain or feeling there. His shoulder and arm felt very numb and he closed his eyes, in a mood of great relaxation and slowly drifted towards sleep.  
  
"Go, Jean," Cassie whispered through gritted teeth in intense convergence of thought. Jean held her hand above the entry point, her eyes closed in well determined focus. After a few moments a flattened, twisted disc of metal was floating in mid-air under her hand. Cassie could hear Jean's voice, but very far away as though she were under water.  
  
"Cassandra, I want you to try and knit his muscles, but only enough for him to have some use of his arm. Don't over do it," Jean stepped back from the two, giving Cassie room now.  
  
Cassie opened her eyes only enough to see her work. She found Kurt nearly asleep with the yellow of his eyes only barely visible through his dense lashes. Cassie attached all her thoughts to his shoulder muscles and by shear will of the mind urged the rips and tears together. She felt a deep thrill as more and more of his tissues formed together. The air itself was seemingly spinning and whirling around her. She kept going when part of her mind screamed for her to stop and a presser in her head grew. As the hole began to close Cassie started to feel lightheaded. She slowly began to release her hold on him and he started to wake up. She was felt dizzy and gripped the alter for balance. Jean and Ororo were in such deep conversation that they did not notice her falter.  
  
Kurt opened his eyes to see Cassandra swaying and her nose flowing with blood. He sat up with a swiftness garnered from his years as an acrobat. He grabbed around the waist and quickly located a clean, white handkerchief from his stash under his pillow.  
  
"Here, Fräulein," he held on to her back as he tried to wipe the blood from her face. She was starting to lose consciousness as Storm noticed the predicament and ran over to the girl. Kurt was holding the bloody kerchief under Cassandra's nose, trying to awkwardly hold her in a semi-standing position.  
  
"Damn it, Cassandra, I told you not to over do it!" Jean yelled as she and Storm took her from Kurt. Kurt jumped up and offered his bed to them. They placed Cassandra on it and Jean checked all her vital. "Stupid girl, she'll be fine," Ororo turned to Kurt saying.  
  
"Will you watch her, we need to contact the Professor," seeing his confusion she continued, "He is our boss, of sorts, a mentor. We need to inform him of our progress and the situation." Kurt looked down at the unconscious girl and acquiesced. He watched the older women walk down the stairs and turned back to Cassandra. He dipped a fresh kerchief in some water and started to fully clean off her face as she stirred slightly.  
  
"What, what's going on?" She could taste blood along her lips and cursed as she struggled to sit up.  
  
"I think you should lie still, fräulein, at the least for a moment to regain yourself," Kurt placed his hand on her arm to impede her movement. She had to stop herself from growling at him and satisfied herself with a loud grumbling noise. Kurt walked over to a basin of water and rinsed the kerchief, returning to finish the job of cleaning her off. She started to protest, but he gave her a glare; his eyes wide and his face stern, that sent her into silence. He completed his project gently, barely touching her face with his cloven hands.  
  
"I think you can stand, you look less," he paused thinking of the proper words, "as though you are going to faint... again," he gave her a gentle look and offered his assistance in standing up. She sat on the edge of his bed, her legs too short to touch the ground. She placed her hands on his shoulders and used them to regain her footing. They passed through an awkward moment; their bodies nearly touching, before she saw that they were alone.  
  
"Where are Jean and Storm?" She asked finding his eyes as she took a few caution filled steps away from the warmth of his body.  
  
"They went to talk with the...." He appeared deep in thought again before finishing his statement, " Professor,"   
  
"Oh," her face scanned the room "Were they angry with me?" She was unaware of Kurt as he watched her meticulously.  
  
"Dr. Grey appeared upset, but more, I hope, for your safety," He took the spot she had vacated on his bed. He fell silent, following her line of sight to his belongings. "Are you sure that you are all right? You did pass out," she nodded her head in response. He didn't know that this happened every time she pushed her powers farther that her body was ready to go. The benefit was that after each time she could go farther and work herself a little harder than before. She walked around his room, examining things as she went, coming to a stop next to Kurt. She gave his strange scars a glance before she began to trace one on his left arm, purely on an impulse. His face shot up to look at her face, his eyes wide.  
  
No one had ever touched him like this, slow and almost with an inquisitiveness he had never seen before. He ached from the lack of human contact. He could never remember any woman ever touching him quite like this before. Nearly every part of him wanted to respond to what her hand was doing to him. Somehow, by the mercy of God, he found the strength to resist the temptation.  
  
Cassie pulled away, her face scarlet, as Kurt jumped down onto the ground and crouched away from her. She was thankful that Storm and Jean were not here to witness the horrible transgression she had committed. Cassie had rarely felt this ashamed of her strong, feline sense of curiosity. She hated herself for overstepping the bounds of the man who had just so tenderly taken care of her.  
  
"Kurt, I'm....I'm so sorry. I didn't mean any harm, they're just so beautiful," she said, desperately, with a sudden hoarseness in her throat. 


	4. Chapter 4: You're Beautiful

I do not own the X-men or the universe in which they live. I only claim creation of Cassandra aka Tigeress. All rights are property of Stan Lee and Marvel. Some people may call this a "Mary Sue", I however think that it does not meet everything to be a Mary Sue. Cassandra is not perfect, she has issues, she isn't the most beautiful, thin nor does she have full control over her powers or life. I hope that some people will read my story and simply enjoy it for what it is. Thanks and please review:)  
  
Kurt turned towards her. Beautiful? he thought, no one had ever thought of them as beautiful. Many people had shown an almost mystical fascination towards them but never had they been referred to in such a way. He took an erect posture; his underlining fears no longer forcing him to hold his defensive posture. He gave her a slight nod of forgiveness as he strode past her to a small table littered with newspapers. He scooped up an old set of rosary beads.  
  
"I take it that you are not the authorities, then?" he asked, almost with a chuckle, his back to her. He was aware of the heavy sounds of her boots as she leveled up beside him.  
  
"No, we are not," she answered simply.  
  
"Yet you wear uniforms,"  
  
"We just want to look cool," she almost laughed at the statement. She recalled a time when Logan had made a similar remark.  
  
"I just don't understand what has happened to me. One moment I am here and the next I was there, fighting those people, those guards. I would have killed him, you know, your president. Just like these say," he gestured to the newspapers. He spoke, half for himself and half to fill the empty, awkward void between them, "I had no control. I saw myself, like a dream, I could not stop. Then the bullet hit me and I saw that it was not a dream, but a nightmare, it was real," his face was full of so much misery it made Cassie wish she had the power to take the memories from him.  
  
Cassie found herself believing him, more so she found herself liking him. She tried to quickly looked him over, with eyes Da Vinci would have appreciated. His shirt was still folded neatly on a chair near his bed. The lightly raised scars ran from the soft features of his face and disappeared past his low, stripped pants. He was covered in a soft, thin and barely there fur that matched his indigo skin. Cassie would guess, from the pictures adorning his walls that he had been an acrobat, and he carried the lean musculature to match. She was finding it more and more difficult to not find him attractive. She wanted to touch him and offer him some small kind of comfort. She thought of her mother, for only a moment. She used to rub her knuckle up and down Cassie's spine, to comfort her when she was a child.  
  
"I believe you, if it is any consolation," she said simply, his face fell again to the cross he held in his hand.  
  
"I think maybe He has forsaken me," he stated, with just a small trace of self-pity etched into his voice. Cassie furrowed her thinly arched eyebrows, debating something in her mind.  
  
"Or, maybe it is He who has lead us to you," she said, Cassie spoke rarely of her Catholic upbringing by her mother. Many people had teased her about her faith, which, since her mother's death had dwindled to nearly nothing. He raise his face to meet hers and smiled with his head cocked to the side, it was obviously the last thing he had expected for her to say.  
  
Abruptly, Cassie heard a small sound coming from her ear piece and held up her hand, ending anything Kurt was going to say in reply. Ororo's voice came in over the static.  
  
"Cass, we can't reach anyone at the Mansion, all lines are down. We need to get out of here. Convince Kurt to come with us and get the two of you back here ASAP. Storm, out," the line went down in a rush of static before she could have a chance to respond.  
  
"Damn," she cursed, Kurt looked at her questionably, "That was Storm, they can't reach anyone at home, something may have happened or it could be nothing. But either way we need to leave, now. Storm wants us to get out of here,"  
  
"Me, as well?" Kurt's brows furrowed. He obviously didn't want to leave his sanctuary. Cassie closed the short distance between them and placed her hand softly on his bare shoulder.  
  
"Kurt, you have to understand, if we found you this quickly then it's only a matter of time before the real authorities find you," his face filled with a little fear, "Not to mention the people who did this to you already know where you are. You will be safest with us," that did it for him. Kurt moved away from her and started to redress himself, with seemingly no pain; Cassie had fully healed him. With the skill that comes only from years of route circus life, Kurt began to hurriedly back his few belongings in the duffel bag that had been doubling as his pillow. When he had rolled and carefully packed the last of his posters, Kurt shouldered the bag and nodded to Cassie.  
  
"Lead the way, my Lady," he bowed gallantly, if but a bit awkwardly under the burden of his bag. She almost giggled but restrained herself to a light chuckle as she started down the stairs.  
  
He must have been following her a bit too closely for her enjoyment, and as she sped up her coat began to billow behind her. As they reached the broken doors of the entry Cassie signaled for Kurt to stop while she stuck her head out to make sure the coast was clear. Kurt heard her curse lightly and he knew the usual group of vandals were loitering outside the high fencing.  
  
"So, how many?" he grinned at her. She held of four fingers as she peaked back out at them. The were all armed with either bats or guns, this isn't looking good. When they had entered the cathedral she had noticed the anti-mutant dogma written all over the wooded sections of the fencing. She suspected these men as the perpetrators as a few of them had spray cans.   
  
"I'm don't think that they are just going to let us walk out of here," Cassie said in dismay, "Is there a back door?"  
  
"We don't need one," Kurt grinned. He stepped right into the open area of the door. Thankfully, the men hadn't notice him, yet. Cassie grabbed his arm, trying to pull him back, and Kurt used his forward momentum to jerk her into his arms. Cassie, her eyes wide, began to push away and struggle. She thrashed angrily as a small whimper of fear left her lips.  
  
"Hush, this won't hurt," she looked purely horrified and her breathing was quickening. He understood that he was frightening to look at, but she hadn't seemed to scared of him before. I wasn't holding her before, was I? he thought to himself when he shut his eyes, but not before taking a glance across the street for a place out of sight. Her strength was great, making the teleportion almost dangerous due to her struggle.  
  
Cassie stopped fighting as she felt his breath turn almost rhythmic, like meditation and his tail wrapped around her left leg and squeeze in almost a pleading way. Suddenly she felt a pressure building up all around and she realized he was going to teleport. Seconds before they went, she threw her arms around his neck with a squeak and burrowed her face into his chest. All they left behind was a thick, black, sulfurous smoke and the bamfing sound attracted the men's attention away from the alley that they materialized in. For a split second she wondered where they were. She felt surrounded by a silence that seemed to have nothing to do with silence, but only the absence of anything to make sound and a complete feeling of nothingness.  
  
"God, warn me next time," she gasped, though she wasn't sure that she wanted a next time. She felt as though she had been turned inside out, then slowly put right. He held on to her as she regained her breath and composure. Her legs felt like jelly, his arms wrapped around her tighter as her knees buckled slightly.   
  
"Don't worry, the first time is always the hardest. I'm sorry, I didn't think that you would mind....I didn't mean to frighten you," he backed away as she regained herself, running his hand through his hair.  
  
"I know, just warn me. I'm... I'm not a very touchy person, I don't like to be constricted, you know held in," she lied, he had touched her in an intimate way. She was afraid that perhaps, she might have liked it. He nodded and they started down the alleyway, towards the park that Ororo had landed in and hidden the Blackbird. 


	5. Chapter 5: Inside the Blackbird

They were taking longer than Jean would have liked. She busied herself with running diagnostics on the plane's communications devices. When they had left Cassandra in the care of the Wanger man she had been less then pleased. The damnable girl had overstepped her bounds multiple times and then had the foolish sense to run amuck with her powers. She never knew when to stop! Jean was even more agitated that Ororo had told her to back off the girl, that she was only gaining some confidence. More like she was trying to take over the bloody team. Am I the second in command of the team or not? she thought in agitation  
  
"Ororo, will you try her again?" Jean took her seat next to the woman. Storm's eyes were milky pale, they had moved the plane to a rendezvous point and she was giving them a foggy cover. Storm placed a finger on her earpiece and pressed down on it.  
  
"Storm to Cassandra, Cassie are you out there?" she was met with a moment of static then Cassie's out of breath voice came in loud and clear.  
  
Nightcrawler was running behind Cassie, who was faster than her frame belied. She was a curvy woman, which was usually coupled with an unathletic nature . But this girl could run, he ended up on all fours at times to keep up. Suddenly she stopped, her hand on the piece of electronics in her ear.  
  
"Cassie here," She paused. Kurt couldn't help but notice her chest as it rose and fell heavily. He quickly looked away, cursing himself for his lack of control. He perked his pointed ears, trying to hear the quiet sounds of her communication device.  
  
"Cass, where are you?" Storm sounded worried.  
  
"About two blocks from the designated meeting site," they had discussed a point of meeting if they had gotten separated. "can you have the hatch open for us, I want to get the hell out of here," their way thus far had been met with stray dogs and another gang of men, these ones being too drunk to notice a pair of young people running through the back streets of Boston.  
  
"Right, I'll have the engines running, Storm out," Cassie took off running again, without barely a glance at Kurt. She heard him drop back down on all fours and take off after her. He seemed just a comfortable on all fours and standing straight, and his posture not damaged but his crouching.  
  
Kurt stopped short of the wall of fog. He had never seen anything like it and wasn't about to go walking right into it. Suddenly Cassandra reappeared and grabbed the strap on his duffel bag and with a strength he wouldn't have thought she possessed pulled him up into the plane.  
  
"Take you seats kids, we're in for a bumpy ride," Storm called back as the loading hatch closed behind Kurt. Cassandra pointed to a cargo net for him to toss his bag into and took a seat behind Storm. He followed in suit and sat behind Dr. Grey.  
  
"Seat belt, Kurt," Cassandra said over the noise of the engines. He looked at her and copied the way that she had buckled herself in.  
  
Jean was starting to get frantic and even Kurt could tell. She had tried every number she knew and switched from the radio to the cellular phones and still no luck. She threw down her head set and uncharacteristically swore.  
  
"Fuck this," Cassie jumped in her seat, Kurt sunk into his own chair and Storm placed a hand on her friends arm.  
  
"Jean, are you sure you're trying all the lines? What about the car phones?" Cassie suggested tentatively, thinking only to help. Jean looked back at the girl, fire in her eyes.  
  
"Cassandra, why don't you try to keep your thoughts to yourself, so I can think?" Jean shouted, the flames around her irises flickering.  
  
"Okay, sorry for trying to help," Cassie threw off her seat belt with the flair of a tantrum and stomped back to the rations for a bottle of water. She grabbed two, tossed one to Kurt, who had gotten it into his head that moving away from the angry telepath was a good plan.  
  
"Is she always this.....short with people?" Nightcrawler asked in a low whisper as she past his hiding place. She had seemed nice enough at the church. Cassandra shook her head and took a seat next to him. She curled up in the lotus position and gulped down the cool water.  
  
"Na, she just needs some time to calm down. She doesn't like being out of control. Makes her feel venerable, like she isn't the bloody queen of the world," she capped her bottle, grabbing her braid, twisting the ends around her fingers. Her accented seemed oddly double by her anger and Kurt wonder what part of Ireland she was from, as her voice had taken on a distinct barogue.   
  
"I see," he looked up at the older women. Storm, the dark skinned woman with the striking white hair was kneeling next to Dr. Grey and talking in a low tones.  
  
"Kurt?" her voice was quiet. Kurt ducked his head around towards her and cocked his face in acknowledgment.  
  
"Ya?"   
  
"May I ask you about...about your scars?" her face was tense, she was afraid of hurting him as before. She was relieved when he smiled and nodded  
  
"They are an angelic alphabet," she met his yellow eyes with her thunder gray ones, "passed on to mankind by the Archangel Gabriel," he stopped, waiting for her next question.  
  
"How many so you have?" she seemed almost eager now, leaning in closer to him.  
  
"One for every sin. So-" he paused to smile and chuckle softly, "quite a few."  
  
"I hardly think that could be true," which she did, he seemed so full of the faith that she had lost.  
  
He turned his face from her. She could see his face grow a deeper indigo, a blush, only because of the eyesight her cat-like slits afforded.  
  
She had offered him so many kind words thus far that these should not have affected him so. That she thought him so devoid of sin, it sent a wave of heat throughout his body. He thought to change the subject away from himself. From sheer observation he had gathered that the Institute was some kind of school and these women were teachers or students of the Professor they spoke of. "So you all are teachers?" He addressed Cassie without looking directly at her.  
  
"In a sense, Jean and Ororo teach. I was a student," she paused thinking how much she should tell him and continued, "I am working on becoming a full time teacher, all I do now is teach small things,"  
  
"Like what?" he actually appeared interested, so she continued.  
  
"I teach art, music and...well....horse back riding," her face turned red as she stumbled over the last, as though she were embarrassed by this.  
  
"Not such small things, I would say that you are already a teacher, taking on so much," he smiled at her. She sat up straighter, he did have a point. She only thought that the children didn't give her the same amount of respect that they gave to the other teachers. It most likely stemmed from her having been one of them only months ago, before her graduation. "What is the school for?"  
  
"It's for those like us, where we can keep each other safe," she stated, turning her body to face him.  
  
"Safe from what?" he seemed thoroughly confused by the thought.  
  
"From.... the normal people. Those who hate us," she nearly spat, her face showing the rage she felt towards non-mutant community. He looked at her with concern echoing in his eyes.  
  
"You know, outside of the circus, people were afraid of me. But I never hated them. I actually felt sorry for them, do you know why?"  
  
Cassie shook her head. "Because most people will never know anything than what they see with their own two eyes,"  
  
"I can't afford time for pity," she crossed her arms around her stomach, curling slightly inwards.  
  
"I am sorry to hear that," he reached up without a thought, cupping her face with his hand, his thumb moved slightly in a gentle caress. Is he flirting with me? she wondered and quickly dismissed it as nonsense. She wondered how someone who looked even less human than herself could possible have lived a better life among the non-mutants.  
  
"Someone as beautiful as you shouldn't be so.....angry or, ugh. I don't not know the word in English, but, Kummer?," he stated, more as an article of faith than anything else, he had sensed her heartache, her kummer. Her face turned as bright as the red in her hair and she turned with her eyes downcast, his hand sliding softly away.  
  
"Anger has given me the strength to go on with my life," she said to the ground.  
  
"Ah, but can faith not do the same?" His voice half filled with desperation, veiled with a thin line of hope.  
  
"So, what did you do in the circus," changing the topic was first on her mind.  
  
"I was known as," he began, and then they both reacted to a shout from up front.  
  
"We've made contact with Logan," Storm called, "He has some of the kids in Boston," 


	6. Chapter 6: A Fallen Embrace

Kurt watched as Cassandra unbelted and ran to help the young student. She hadn't the time to scream before she was gone. He didn't even hesitate a second before he vanished in his signature bamf as he left the cabin smelling of sulfur.  
  
He pulled his limbs close to him to catch up to her falling form. Cassie looked up and saw Kurt above her. He had rocketed out of no where, this was his time to shine. He had all the grace and skill bestowed on a circus performer. She only wish that the circumstances were better so that she might actually get to enjoy watching him. He reached her quickly and started to wrap his body around her. She slipped her frozen hands onto his back, underneath his heavy jacket as his tail found a home at her waist. Once they were completely interlocked he teleported.  
  
Cassie found herself back in the Blackbird, and she wonder if that was an improvement from outside as they were falling at relatively the same rate. Though at least she wouldn't die alone, falling to the earth. Her face was buried in Kurt's neck and all she could do was smell the sent of him a combination of leather and incense and pulled his body only a little closer to her own. His left hand released her as he gripped at something to hold them inside the plane. With her last ounce of courage Cassie reached out to Jean with her telepathic powers.  
  
Jean?  
  
Yes? Her telepathic voice made an enervated, feeble noise that faded in and out Cassie's mind.  
  
Can you fix this? Use your powers to close that hole??   
  
No, I've tried, I'm tapped dry. Cass, honey, I am so sorry. I wish I change this. Cassie knew that Jean was not simply apologizing for her simple lack of power, she was repentant for more than what had happened that day  
  
It's okay, I'm sorry too. With that small act of atonement she settled into Kurt's soft neck and braced herself for impact. When it didn't come at the moment she thought it should she looked up through his hair. She followed Logan's line of sight to the hole watching mystified as it closed of its own accord.  
  
"Kurt, sit up a bit, love," her accent was softly muffled into his neck and sent a thrill down his spine. Kurt lifted off her slightly, only to notice that the air pressure had returned and there was no longer a need to hold on to Cassandra. He dared only a moment of weakness for himself to keep his face mere inches from her own. He blushed, offering his hands to her, helping her to stand.  
  
Cassie looked through the cockpit window to see Mystique waving genteelly at them. Kurt had backed away only marginally and was glancing out the window over her shoulder. His breath was hot on her cheek, his hand on her lower back as he leaned forward and his tail had slipped from her waist to her leg. She found, oddly that she did not mind this closeness and that she was, in fact, moderately enjoying it.  
  
She reached out with her mind as Magneto wasn't wearing the helmet that would have kept her out. He was amused, wondering when they would learn the proper way to fly. She stared at Magneto as he set the plane softly on the ground. 


End file.
